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[3830] ARRLDX CW KQ2M SOAB HP

To: 3830@contesting.com, kq2m@kq2m.com
Subject: [3830] ARRLDX CW KQ2M SOAB HP
From: webform@b4h.net
Reply-to: kq2m@kq2m.com
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2017 13:45:38 +0000
List-post: <3830@contesting.com">mailto:3830@contesting.com>
ARRL DX Contest, CW

Call: KQ2M
Operator(s): KQ2M
Station: KQ2M

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: CT
Operating Time (hrs): 35.8
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:   94    51
   80:  360    66
   40:  892    88
   20: 1218    96
   15:  967    93
   10:   25    13
-------------------
Total: 3556   407  Total Score = 4,341,876

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

First, I want to extend a HUGE THANKS for the AWESOME team effort of W1UE, K6ND
and N1RR who, in order, W1UE picked up my ACOM 2000a from the Feb 4th meeting
and delivered it to K6ND, who shipped it out and got it fixed and, drove it to
N1RR who then drove an hour each way to meet me in extreme Southeastern CT to
put the amp in my trunk so that I could take it home and drive back.  You guys
ROCK!  
 
This was a semi-serious effort with sleep both nights and having to QRT at 4 PM
(21z) on Sunday for a musical.  Cndx were better than expected and worse than
expected, usually not with any predictability.  It never helps to be sleep
deprived before a contest but that is what most of us probably have to deal
with.  I had about 25 hours sleep in the 7 days prior to the contest.  Much of
that was 
unintentional �" my health issues have been VERY nasty recently and kept
me from being able to get sleep.  Then 2 1/2 hours of sleep the first night
made things worse.  After a good start on the low bands on Friday night,
despite not having a 40 meter beam, I had to call it quits about 08z while 40
was hopping.  I had 741 q’s and 155 mults at that point with operating ONE
radio.  160 was pretty 
incredible (for me), including a brief EU run! and 80 was a disappointment with
only 135 q’s the first night.  I couldn’t understand why since my wire
4-square usually works very well.  Then about 06z I noticed that when I pointed
it SE to work the Carib stns, they did NOT get louder. I was also having trouble
working them.  At first I thought it was the lousy propagation, but alas, at 08z
when I tried to work a ZL and he was the same signal strength in ALL directions,
I realized that I had an omni-directional antenna.  NO WONDER I worked so few EU
and struggled to be heard. UGH!  Time for sleep.

At 1030z, I awoke too late - after allowing for the 30 min it takes to prepare
the day’s meds and food - and 20 was already HOT!  Unfortunately, all the
loud callers were within about .000000001 HZ of each other and it was almost
impossible to pick out a callsign. Those who were clever and called off freq.
got in the log first followed by the 500(0) watt stations.  I did get the rate
meter up to about 320 for last 10 at one point with a  few “6” qso minutes,
but it was TOUGH!  The best clock hour was 203 and best 60 min was 212 but it
could have been much higher if people didn’t call on the same freq.
CONSTANTLY.  Interestingly enough, my best hour was not all on one band but
rather took place during the hour that I was on 20 and then qsy’d to 15!  It
was very hard to tear myself away from a great band 
opening on 20 with plenty of Russia (no Asia) to go to a spotty 15, but there
was no way to know how long or well 15 would be open. Answer �" not
particularly long and NOT well at all!

One day I hope that someone will explain to me how it is possible to not hear
Russia on 15 and then out of nowhere, an S8 or S9 Russian will call.  ONE of
them!  And then no Russia again for a long time until the next ONE loud
Russian.  It is still a mystery to me. There were many freq. fights as the
battles for prime real estate were fierce.  I tend to stay put on a freq. for a
long time so it is 
annoying to me when some loud guy just starts calling cq on top of my pileup
and continues to do it for the next 10 minutes �" or longer!  Or parks
himself only 50 hz away.  50 hz �" REALLY?!!  You can’t filter that
out! The bigger problem was that I was ill and the lack of sleep made it worse.
 I have no doubt that this irritate my heart issues as I had erratic heartbeats
all day long.  The extra beats and missing beats create severe problems for me
�" major pain and discomfort, tremors, nausea, light-headedness and
weakness. That’s on top of the other health issues.  The leaning toward the
radio to tune and listen exacerbated everything. It got so bad that even my
heart medicine had no effect and it was not able to stabilize my heartbeat.  I
was in absolute misery for the entire day.  I am sure that my cardiologist
would have called me an idiot for even attempting to operate.  But I am an
"old-school" kind of guy and I love contesting, so I try to block
out
what I can and keep pushing as hard as I can for as long as I can! 

Rates were good on 15 and then 20 but tailed off quickly as propagation
worsened.  The rapidity and depth of the qsb was incredible at times �" a
caller could be S9 while giving the 599 and then be gone before he gave the
power.  This plus the usual qrm, qrn and key clicks made for real rate killers
�" and then emboldened the would-be freq. stealers who pretended not to
hear the weak caller in the 5 �" 10 seconds while I tried to get the
report.  Yup �" freq. fight! 

The only JA I worked on 20 was one that called me about 15z.  This is the time
of cycle of the  “one and done” JA’s on each band.  One on 80, one on 40
and one on 20.  Propagation is so poor and the path so strained that I just try
to find one on each band.  What was really funny was the big pileups on the
JA’s on 40 while completely ignoring a very weak XV1X on 7000.5!  I laughed
that I was able to work him easily and had to struggle with everything else. 
That is the UPSIDE of DX spots I guess �" it rewards those of us that
still tune.   :-)

All the good Pacific and Asian DX is on 40 and 80 when 20 opens up.  DXing and
working those mults is so important to the score and yet how can you argue with
150+ rate which only lasts for a short time on a band that will dry up quickly? 
That is always a frustrating choice for me even with 2 radios - and without a 40
meter yagi, I am too weak to “run them in" on 40.

160 was simply incredible Saturday night.  I had two EU runs and quite a few
mults called in, including P3X who found me on my FIRST cq! WOW!  Because of my
acute severe health issues I could not stay up for EU sunrise and went qrt at ~
0420z missing the best low band propagation and EU sunrise and no doubt missing
some 200 q’s on 80 that I didn’t get the first night.

I was up earlier on the 2nd day, reeling after 5 hours sleep.  My heart was a
bit less erratic on Sunday and that was a REALLY good thing! I was ready at the
start of the 20 meter opening and I vowed to stay on 20 later today �" a
good decision as quite a few interesting mults called in.  After I got
downstairs, as I was calling cq on 20 and running at about 150/hr, I  started
to examine the 80 meter 4-square 
controller.  I had a theory that the reason it might not be working might have
something to do with the fact that I had moved its location just prior to the
start of the contest.  I looked for a broken control wire on Friday night but
couldn’t find it.  After a few hours sleep, my eyesight and focus was a bit
better and there it was! I then proceeded to fix it in between cq’s and
giving exchanges and typing in callsigns on the keyboard.  I had about 5
seconds of work after a qso and before sending a report in which to do the next
increment of work.  After about 10 minutes and 27 qso’s, I had it fixed!  I
laughed that I was actually able to diagnose and fix it without losing rate on
20! Then I went to 15 but it was really poor, with a few brief opens and closes
until the real thing about 1420z. Great rate and then nothing.  Great rate and
then nothing.  I think that a lot of people either didn’t turn their radio on
on Sunday or just stayed on 20.
I chased mults and did some manual 2-radio alternate cqing to make it more
interesting.  I also tried some new operating techniques and strategies with
some interesting results.  Some keepers for sure!  :-)  Through the years, I
have made it a point to try at least one new operating idea or strategy in
every contest that I operate. That way I keep experimenting and learning and
adjusting to our changing sport and keep ahead of the competition. As I
operated, I kept checking 10 for mults since I had spent ZERO time on it the
first day.  Carib 
was almost impossible to hear.  A lot of lost mults that were no doubt worked
by stations a bit further South that had just enough of a higher MUF than in
New England.

Some wonderful mults called in along the way �" 5R8SV, TK5EP, 9H1XT on
THREE bands!  JACKPOT!  A LOUD SU9JG,  9K2NO and 5T0JL on 40, SV9CVY and 4U1ITU
on 2 bands, Mike, 7Z1JA, on one day and then from A93JA on the other day and
E51DWC and TZ5XR!  :-)  It was really nice to work E51DWC on 3 bands. I only
chased mults on the 2nd day and the result shows.  I missed so many “easy”
ones, like LU on 20 - I actually couldn’t find one!  As 40 got going on
Sunday afternoon, it was time for me to QRT at ~ 21z to go see the musical.  I
found out later that I had missed a decent Asian/Pacific opening on 20 and some
JA’s and Pacific on 15 �" lots of mults that I needed.  When cndx are
poor you really pay the price for not being on for the full 48 hours just in
case you got a 15 minute opening somewhere and that never re-appeared.  The
musical (Amadeus) was worth it however and it was nice to spend a few hours
relaxing with my xyl and daughter.

I have completely missed BOTH weekends of ARRLDX 3 times in recent years due to
all my severe health issues, so to even be on is a “victory”.

Highlights:

Cndx better than expected and 160 was SENSATIONAL Saturday night!
Fast start on 40 and competitive through 07z.
Great rates on 20 and 15
Lots of great DX calling in
First time I ran DX on 40 BEFORE 20z!
Rates > 210/hr with a few 6-minutes and many 5-minutes
Saying hello to so many old friends and remembering when and where I first met
them in person!

Lowlights:

Constant heart arrhythmias all-day Saturday and much of the contest �"
with terrible impact 
WORLD-CLASS Key clicks of CR6K, II3W and S51YI �" impossible to filter
out.  Guys, be considerate and PLEASE fix your radios!
SN5N calling cq on my freq. non-stop for 20 minutes!  VE3JM as well.
KC1XX unsportsmanlike contact �" refusing to work me for the HI mult
Bottom of the cycle cndx for most of the contest

I want to thank all the ops and especially the DXpeditions for all of the
qso’s and mults!

And in closing, I want to take a moment to commemorate the 30th anniversary of
the 1987 ARRLDX CW contest which was very special
for me for two reasons:

1) It was my first Single Op All-Band High Power (SOABHP) NON-Assisted US/VE
WIN (from KM1H)
2) It was the dividing line between the previous "standard" of
competitive single op efforts and MODERN SO2R

Starting with that 1987 ARRLDX CW contest, I was the first Single Opr. to
operate SO2R in EVERY DX contest.  It was a new way of operating  - 
much more complex and far more mentally and physically demanding of the op.  It
required a more efficient and intelligent operating style and 
a much more effective and flexible station design to make it possible.

Within two years, almost all competitive single ops were operating SO2R and
were redesigning their stations, antenna systems, and operating 
strategies in an effort to raise their “game” to the level of the NEW
standard of competitive operating �" SO2R !

I am proud to have made a major and lasting contribution to the advancement of
"radiosport" in this ARRLDX CW contest those 30 years ago, 
and even prouder still to see that 30 years later, the SO2R style of operating
that I pioneered, is still the "STANDARD" of serious competition.

Tnx to all of you for the many hundreds of thousands of contest qso's over the
years!

73

Bob KQ2M

kq2m@kq2m.com
www.rlsfinancialgroup.com


HOUR      160      80       40       20       15       10    HR TOT  CUM TOT  

   0    .....    .....   104/31     5/5     .....    .....   109/36  109/36 
   1     9/9       .      93/10     6/4       .        .     108/23  217/59 
   2    33/15    39/19    14/0       .        .        .      86/34  303/93 
   3      .      74/8     17/10      .        .        .      91/18  394/111
   4      .       3/1     60/9       .        .        .      63/10  457/121
   5     8/7       .      88/1       .        .        .      96/8   553/129
   6     3/3      8/6     81/2       .        .        .      92/11  645/140
   7      .       9/7     73/6       .        .        .      82/13  727/153
   8    .....     2/2     12/0     .....    .....    .....    14/2   741/155
   9      .        .        .        .        .        .        .    741/155
  10      .        .        .        .        .        .        .    741/155
  11      .        .        .      90/27      .        .      90/27  831/182
  12      .        .        .     181/11      .        .     181/11 1012/193
  13      .        .        .      99/6    104/30      .     203/36 1215/229
  14      .        .        .        .     182/14      .     182/14 1397/243
  15      .        .        .        .     160/5       .     160/5  1557/248
  16    .....    .....    .....   115/4     47/1     .....   162/5  1719/253
  17      .        .        .     130/9     13/12      .     143/21 1862/274
  18      .        .        .      65/1     21/10     9/6     95/17 1957/291
  19      .        .      36/1     25/6      9/3       .      70/10 2027/301
  20      .        .      97/2      1/0       .        .      98/2  2125/303
  21      .        .     108/1       .        .        .     108/1  2233/304
  22      .      47/2     30/2      1/1       .        .      78/5  2311/309
  23      .      39/1      1/0     15/7      5/2       .      60/10 2371/319
   0    .....    57/4      7/5     .....    .....    .....    64/9  2435/328
   1     5/4      6/2     16/2       .        .        .      27/8  2462/336
   2    11/5     27/8      1/0       .        .        .      39/13 2501/349
   3      .      42/3     12/2       .        .        .      54/5  2555/354
   4    21/6       .        .       3/2       .        .      24/8  2579/362
   5      .        .        .        .        .        .        .   2579/362
   6      .        .        .        .        .        .        .   2579/362
   7      .        .        .        .        .        .        .   2579/362
   8    .....    .....    .....    .....    .....    .....    ..... 2579/362
   9      .        .        .        .        .        .        .   2579/362
  10     4/2      6/2      2/2      1/1       .        .      13/7  2592/369
  11      .       1/1      1/1    113/1       .        .     115/3  2707/372
  12      .        .        .     112/0     51/3       .     163/3  2870/375
  13      .        .        .      22/3     91/2       .     113/5  2983/380
  14      .        .        .        .     105/1       .     105/1  3088/381
  15      .        .        .      20/0     92/1       .     112/1  3200/382
  16    .....    .....    .....    18/0     60/1      9/5     87/6  3287/388
  17      .        .        .      86/1      6/0      1/1     93/2  3380/390
  18      .        .        .      59/1      8/6       .      67/7  3447/397
  19      .        .        .      38/3     12/2      6/1     56/6  3503/403
  20      .        .      34/0     13/3      1/0       .      48/3  3551/406
  21      .        .       5/1       .        .        .       5/1  3556/407
  22      .        .        .        .        .        .        .   3556/407
  23      .        .        .        .        .        .        .   3556/407
DAY1    53/34   221/46   814/75   733/81   541/77     9/6     ..... 2371/319
DAY2    41/17   139/20    78/13   485/15   426/16    16/7       .   1185/88 
TOT     94/51   360/66   892/88  1218/96   967/93    25/13      .   3556/407


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